


Plane Flights Suck

by beanstalks



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Fluff, Humanstuck, M/M, Sollux is so done, eridan is scared of flying, fef gets some brief mentions and an appearance, for rights!, i had so much fun writing this, it's heavily implied they're both trans, meet ugly, there is such thing as healthy kismesis guys, they're sitting next to each other on a plane, they're stupid and gay, this was for a secret santa... i kinda went overboard, with some bickering because. they're Them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28166403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beanstalks/pseuds/beanstalks
Summary: Sollux Captor doesn't particularly enjoy flying, but being seated next to an idiot he's never met who is terrified of it makes it a whole lot worse. (Or better?)
Relationships: Eridan Ampora & Feferi Peixes, Eridan Ampora/Sollux Captor
Comments: 8
Kudos: 46





	Plane Flights Suck

**Author's Note:**

> hello emma :) here is your secret santa <3 I KNOW I WENT OVERBOARD OKAY BUT I OWED YOU AN ERISOL FIC FOR HIVESWAP FRIENDSIM SO. SHH.  
> i hope you enjoy ittt <3<3
> 
> everyone else hello! here is (unfortunately) an erisol fic. i am not proud of the choices i have made but i do not choose the comfort ship.  
> i'm quite proud of this one!! i hope you like it as much as i do :)

The worst thing about going home for the holidays was always the plane flights.

It’s not like Sollux was necessarily uncomfortable with flying or anything, but having to pack up everything he’d need for a week or so and lug it all around what was essentially a packed, hyped up and overpriced shopping mall that had planes attached as an afterthought was quite possibly one of the worst experiences he could think of. 

Add on all the extensive security scans and checks with constant scrutiny over whether the little letter marked under ‘sex’ on his passport was accurate and yeah. It sucked.

He supposed it was worth it. His family was nice enough that he still came back every break despite having moved out for college over a year earlier. That and he could gorge himself on whatever food was set in front of him, almost like he was stocking up before going back to his life of limited meal options.

So that was how he found himself checking his bag in yet again and trudging over to the first security check with just his laptop bag carrying everything he’d need slung over his shoulder. The woman checked over his documents and asked the usual questions that were already grating on Sollux’s self-esteem. 

Next to him at another booth, Sollux overheard a man saying similar things to what he was. He was a lot louder than him, flailing his arms around and complaining about various laws and governments. He finished his rant and readjusted his purple scarf, eyes meeting Sollux’s. The man huffed and glared at Sollux, picking up his processed documents and storming towards the next checkpoint. Sollux shook off his bewilderment and thanked the woman as he took his papers back and followed the path to the next check.

Unfortunately, the customs scan went a lot less smoothly. He was quite early to go through security, but of course, there was already a line. After pulling his laptop out of his bag and sending it separately through the x-ray, he stood in line for the body scan and waited.

He was queued up behind the man from earlier, who Sollux had now decided to dub ‘Purple’ since he wore so much of it (and he had a purple streak in his hair). Purple set off the scan immediately as he walked through. He rolled his eyes as an employee asked him to take off his extravagant (also purple) cape, and did so while huffing. He was beeped at again by the scan, and an employee suggested he take off his rings and jewellery. He turned around and grabbed another tray, glaring at Sollux as he noticed his eyes on him.

“What are you looking at?” He snarled, pulling his rings off and narrowing his eyes when Sollux shrugged. _Who even wore a_ **_cape_** _?_

After a few more tries, he finally got through, complaining loudly about how many layers he had to take off as he started putting them back on. Sollux got through without any issues, as he’d expected. It really wasn’t hard to follow the rules. As he was collecting his bag, Purple was called aside and berated for packing what looked like a tube of hand cream into his carry on. 

“I’m not gonna go five hours without moisturisin’! I’m not an animal! First business class was all booked out, and now this?” Sollux rolled his eyes, slinging his laptop case carrying all his items over his shoulder and walking towards the exit. He was contemplating making a snarky comment but decided he was better than that. The rules and restrictions were perfectly laid out, only people who were ignorant and idiotic broke them.

After wandering past all the shops made to entice you into spending a copious amount of money on overpriced goods, Sollux ordered himself an energy drink and settled into a seat near a wall socket at the gate. He opened up his laptop and got to work on his latest commission. He had a job working in retail, but on the side (mostly so he could afford more CPU perks) he freelanced designing and programming websites for small businesses. He had a good view of the planes out the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, and he’d look up every time he took a sip of his drink.

After about forty-five minutes, they started calling the people who would need assistance up so they could be seated on the plane. Sollux was seated towards the very back of the plane, so he started packing up.

As he was getting up to get in line, there was a loud yell of ‘wait!’ from behind him. He turned to see none other than Purple rushing up, arms full of shopping bags. Sollux sighed as Purple got into line in front of him, puffing as he looked around at the gate. As they got to the front, he quickly started patting around his pockets, opening a few of his bags. Sollux sighed as yet again he was held up by the same guy.

“I’m not late, am I?” He asked the poor flight attendant as he continued to search frantically for what Sollux assumed was his boarding pass. When the flight attendant assured him that no, he was not late, Purple finally managed to find his pass and gave it to them. Sollux crossed his arms, resisting the urge to tap his foot.

Finally, they both got through and walked along the elevated pathway to their plane. It was on the smaller side as the flight was fairly short. Even so, Sollux still wasn’t looking forward to sitting on the cramped aircraft for five hours. He hoped the people next to him wore deodorant this time. At least he was on the window seat, so he had a view to look out at.

He stepped onto the plane behind Purple, sighing (and earning himself another glare) as Purple had apparently already lost track of his boarding pass. Sollux was about to push past him when he procured it from one of his bags, passing it to the flight attendant and fully entering the plane. Sollux got through easily and began walking down the aisle.

As they kept walking, Sollux was sure that Purple was going to stop and sit down and Sollux would never have to see him again, but alas, he kept walking. Sollux looked at his aisle number and was silently calculating the odds, praying that they wouldn’t be next to each other.

Alas, luck was not on his side that day. Purple stopped at the aisle Sollux was also seated at, muttering under his breath. He looked behind him and made a disgusted face when he saw Sollux, who rolled his eyes and pushed past him as Purple began loading their overhead locker with his shopping.

Sollux put his laptop bag under the seat in front of him, silently cursing the fact he was about to be stuck with such a mess of a person. At least Purple probably wore deodorant.

After a large chunk of time had passed, Purple was seemingly happy with how he had arranged his shopping bags and came to sit next to Sollux, swishing his cape into his face as he settled into his seat. Sollux let out a frustrated sigh, opting to stare out the window instead of acknowledging Purple.

It was hard to ignore all the fidgeting, however. He kept fiddling with the vents above them, and the tray, and the armrest… He was very antsy. Every time he accidentally bumped Sollux’s arm he muttered a sarcastic apology and continued fidgeting. Eventually, he got out his phone and started typing madly.

Everything was calm as people were still boarding, and Sollux found a random show that he was vaguely interested in, and put in an earbud to listen.

Purple jumped when they started the safety announcements, and put his phone away hastily, switching between watching the screen and the flight attendants at a pace that must hurt his eyes. The video instructed everyone about how to buckle their seatbelts, and Purple jumped and practised buckling and unbuckling his belt about five times, mumbling under his breath. Sollux couldn’t quite pick up what he was saying, so he wrote it off as nonsense.

As they mentioned turbulence, Purple sat up straight and went wide-eyed, quietly exclaiming ‘turbulence?!’ as if he couldn’t quite believe it. Purple whispered an ‘oh!’ in surprise when they disclosed aeroplane mode would be required as if he didn’t know that it was made… for aeroplanes. 

When they instructed to locate the nearest exit, Purple almost sprung out of his seat as he spotted the exit a few rows in front of them. They mentioned evacuation slides, and Purple looked confused, muttering in bewilderment.

“ _Slides?_ Why can’t you just jump?” He asked himself, and Sollux decided to humour him.

“ _Because_ idiot. You could be high above the ground. Or in water,” Sollux explained with a sigh as the video showed the slides going onto water. Purple glared at him.

“You don’t have to be so mean about it, _asshole_ ,” he said, but then his face softened. “Hang on, we can be in the _water?_ ” Sollux rolled his eyes. 

“It’s a very unlikely event, but yes. That’s why they can float.” That seemingly shut him up, before he latched on to the next thing.

“Wait, we can’t take our luggage?” He squinted at the video.

“No, it’d just slow us down if we did need to get out quickly. Dude, have you never been on a plane before?” Purple shook his head quickly.

“I don’t wanna lose my stuff!” He said, upset. Sollux sighed.

“It’s _incredibly_ unlikely we will need to evacuate.”

“How do _you_ know?”

“Dude, there are thousands and thousands of planes flying every single day. When was the last time you heard about a crash?” This seemed to quiet his worries for a moment. They watched as the video explained oxygen masks, and Purple was quick to direct his questions to Sollux. Sollux was beginning to regret talking to him.

“What if they run out of oxygen?”

“I highly doubt that will happen,” Sollux said, shifting his gaze out the window as the plane started to move, which startled Purple. He let out a quiet ‘ah!’ before recovering and turning back to Sollux.

“What if my mask is broken?”

“I don’t think it will be.”

“What if my life vest won’t come out?”

“It will.”

“What if it has a hole in it?”

“Dude,” Sollux turned to him, holding his hands out in a ‘calm down’ motion. “Quit it with the ‘what if’s, okay? You’re just stressing yourself out.” Purple closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting out a quiet ‘okay’.

“We have a whistle on our vests? Can I blow a little tune?” Sollux scoffed out a laugh, and Purple looked at him, confused. “What? It was a serious question!”

“We’ll cross that bridge if we get to it,” Sollux said, watching out the window as they queued up to take off. Purple was silent for a moment, before asking another question.

“If I don’t put my phone on aeroplane mode, will we crash?” He asked quietly, and Sollux puffed out a chuckle.

It was going to be a long flight after all.

After he has quickly exhausted all questions, Purple begrudgingly introduced himself as Eridan. Sollux thought the name suited him, in a weird way. They prepared for takeoff and Eridan was even antsier, his hands clutching the armrests. As they started speeding up, his face went pale, and he scrunched his eyes closed, whispering things like ‘Oh god. Please don’t die. Please.’ under his breath. He grabbed the barf bag out of the pocket in front of him, opening it in preparation. Sollux had absolutely no idea how to help, so he looked out the window as the plane left the runway.

He always enjoyed the view. Seeing the buildings get further and further away until they look like tiny toys was a part about flying he appreciated greatly. He was very aware of the person next to him as he practically hyperventilated. Thinking a distraction might help, he nudged Eridan, gesturing out the window.

“Look at the view dude, isn’t it cool?” He said wistfully, watching as the cars become nothing more than little dots before disappearing from view altogether. Eridan leaned over him to look, and Sollux jumped as he screeched.

“Are you serious?! Why would you show me that?” He exclaimed, falling back into his seat, breathing even more erratic. 

“I’m sorry, I thought it’d help-”

“How would _that_ help?!” He scrunched up his face, hands going into his hair and tugging. “I shoulda just had Fef come to me, this is glubbin’ ridiculous...”

“What?” Eridan snapped his head around to glare at Sollux.

“Just stop talkin’ to me,” he said simply, running his fingers through his hair and closing his eyes. Sollux sighed, mentally beating himself up. Of _course,_ he wouldn’t want to see how high they were if he was scared of flying. The seatbelt sign turned off, and Sollux immediately retrieved his laptop, setting it up on the tray in front of him. 

After a while of Sollux working, Eridan had seemed to calm down a lot, growing as comfortable as he could be with the idea that they were hurtling thirty thousand feet in the air. Sollux could feel eyes on his laptop screen but didn’t particularly care enough. Eridan eventually called over a flight attendant and asked for a cup of water, and then settled in to watch some movie.

Soon after, something on-screen apparently scared him. As he flailed his arms, the hand holding the cup sent the contents of it flying through the air… Right onto Sollux. He sighed angrily, quickly making sure none was on his laptop as Eridan apologised profusely.

“I’m so sorry! Shit!” He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a small packet of tissues, holding them out to Sollux and leaning over him to inspect his laptop. 

“It’s fine,” Sollux deadpanned. It, in fact, was not fine. Now it looked like he’d pissed himself. He took a tissue out of the packet offered to him and started dabbing up the moisture.

“It didn’t get on your laptop, right?” Eridan asked, looking up at him worriedly before the expression morphed into anger as he remembered their previous interaction. “Not that I care. You’d deserve it, anyway.”

“Laptop is all good,” Sollux shifted in his seat, ignoring the last comment. His jeans were uncomfortable enough as it was, being slightly damp did _not_ help. They relapsed back into an awkward silence as Eridan put the rest of his tissues away, moving back into his own seat and continuing his movie. Sollux rolled his eyes and continued his project.

After a while, Eridan got up to go to the bathroom. He was gone for a little while, and when he came back, he looked like he’d seen a ghost. He sat down and stared straight ahead for a moment before turning to Sollux.

“Dude, the flush on that toilet is so fuckin’ scary?” Sollux blinked at him for a moment before replying.

“I know, right? It’s terrifying.” 

“Like, they coulda at least warned me? It sounded like the devil himself was comin’ outta there.” He shuddered as if imagining it.

“I’ve heard that if you sit on it while you flush, it can suck out your insides.”

“WHAT?!” Eridan exclaimed, fingers going to tug on his hair. Sollux laughed.

“Yeah dude, you should try it out. See if it’s true.” Eridan shoved his arm, glaring at him.

“You’re the one who brought it up, asshole. You should try it.” There was silence for a moment. “Are you goin’ home for the holidays?” Sollux was surprised at Eridan’s sudden change of heart from the ‘don’t talk to me’ instruction.

“Yeah. For as long as I can stand it.”

“I’m surprised they’re not the ones kickin’ you out. I’m already sufferin’ from your presence and it’s only been,” he checked his phone. “An hour?!” He sighed, exasperated.

“Alright asswipe, you’re the one who spilt water on me.” Sollux accused, narrowing his eyes at him. Eridan scoffed, holding an affronted hand to his chest.

“I supplied the tissues!” Sollux rolled his eyes.

“Where are you going, then?” Sollux asked, and Eridan blinked as if forgetting he’d asked the same question of Sollux thirty seconds earlier. Sollux wasn’t entirely sure why he was interested, but something in him felt drawn to this idiot.

“I’m goin’ to my friend Fef’s place. She moved a year or two ago,” Eridan said, turning back to his movie as Sollux nodded.

A while passed, the only noises coming from the two of them the clacking of keys and readjusting of positions. Suddenly, the plane shuddered beneath them. Eridan immediately froze up, his hand going to the armrest and instead finding Sollux’s hand where it was resting. He squeezed it tightly, closing his eyes. Sollux stared at the hand that was now quite literally being crushed by the anxious mess that was sitting next to him.

 _Okay_ , Sollux thought to himself. _My hand is being held by a pretty boy. This is fine._ He was about to go back to his work one-handed when he realised what he’d thought. _Not pretty! Well. Not that he’s_ ** _not_** _pretty. Ah, shit._ The turbulence continued, and the seatbelt sign pinged back on. Eridan was clutching Sollux’s hand like his life depended on it.

Sollux took this time to actually _look_ at the guy. His subconscious wasn’t _wrong_ , he was genuinely quite attractive. With broad arched brows, thick-rimmed glasses framing his eyes that were squeezed shut and soft-looking tufts of purple and black hair. He looked like a pretentious hipster, pretty much. He would have been a lot nicer to look at if he wasn’t constantly scowling or frowning.

It was then that he noticed that Eridan was quietly whimpering to himself as the plane continued to be unsteady. Sollux wriggled his hand around and squeezed Eridan’s back, hoping that it could be some kind of comfort. He didn’t react, so Sollux kept his hand there, going back to his laptop.

After a few minutes, and a few squeezes of Eridan’s hand whenever the turbulence got particularly bad, the seatbelt sign was turned back off. Eridan took a little while longer to recover, but when he finally opened his eyes, he stared shocked at their intertwined hands. Sollux looked at him with curiosity.

“Are you okay?” He asked. Eridan flicked his eyes from their hands to Sollux’s face a few times before letting go, wiping his hand on his pants and taking a deep breath.

“Yeah. Gross,” he said, making a face at the hand that was so desperately clutching at Sollux’s a few moments earlier. Sollux rolled his eyes, smiling to himself. 

Sollux stretched, feeling eyes on him again as he put away his laptop and started browsing the selections of movies on the built-in entertainment. He’d usually watch some show he’d downloaded on his laptop, but he had neglected to do that before he’d left. After scrolling through for a while, he found what could only be described as the shittiest Christmas movie he’d ever seen. Surprised this would even be on offer by the airline, he turned to Eridan for his input only to find him staring at him. He turned away quickly, face flushing. Sollux elected to ignore this and continue.

“Eridan, look at this fucking movie,” he said, pointing to the screen. Eridan, still red, looked back and took a moment to read it, face growing more and more incredulous with every word he saw.

“Sol, _what_?” He turned to meet his eyes. “We have to watch it.”

“Oh, you _know_ we do,” Sollux replied, grabbing his headphones from his pocket and straightening them out, handing one to Eridan. Eridan screwed up his face.

“These headphones are nasty.”

“Deal with it,” Sollux replied, clicking on the movie and watching as Eridan pulled a small packet of wipes out of his seemingly never-ending pockets to wipe off the earbud before hesitantly putting it in his ear.

As would be expected of literally _every_ single generic Christmas movie, it started with some pop cover of a Christmas carol filled with shitty graphics and editing. A young woman was working an office job with a shitty boyfriend until there was some kind of work assignment that sent her to a small town. Sollux and Eridan watched, awestruck, as the couple had a phone conversation.

“Did he just growl?” Eridan exclaimed, leaning into Sollux’s personal space to get a better view. Sollux scoffed.

“No way dude, that was just like. An anger noise.”

“Since when are you an expert on noises?” Sollux shoved him gently in response.

They both lost track of time completely enthralled in the madness that was the movie. Eridan insisted that the main love interest ‘isn’t even that hot’ and that he ‘definitely has a better body than him’. Sollux rolled his eyes at both statements. It’s soon revealed that the original boyfriend is a werewolf, and Eridan screeched about how he was right that it was a growl. 

It turned out that the new love interest was actually a vampire, and Eridan declared that the two love interests were actually in love themselves as they argued over who should ‘own’ the woman. Sollux couldn’t help but agree.

In the twilight-esque Christmas special, the woman is then kidnapped by a mall Santa. Sollux claimed that the woman could easily outrun him and sneak out the door as he was wearing a suit stuffed full of pillows, and it made Eridan laugh. Sollux felt quite pleased with himself as he watched him cover his mouth and giggle.

At the end of the movie, the two men had to band together to rescue the woman, and they all end up in a relationship. As the credits roll, both boys stare at the screen dumbfounded. 

“What the _fuck_ , dude,” Eridan whispered, and Sollux could only nod in response. 

They were brought out of their confused stupor by a flight attendant coming by with their dinner. He gave them the options of poached duck or ‘chicken and mash’. The boys looked at each other incredulously before ordering.

They’re given their meals, and unwrap them to reveal what looks like messy slop. Sollux’s ‘chicken and mash’ was entirely the same colour, which made Eridan laugh. His poached duck didn’t look much better, and he poked at it.

“Is that… an egg?” He asked suspiciously. Sollux leaned over and snickered.

“I honestly have no idea.”

“It’s better than whatever sludge you have,” Eridan retorted, gathering a forkful and waiting for Sollux to do the same. “Okay, I’ll count down. Three-”

“Are we going on one or after one?” 

“Shut up. After,” Eridan instructed. “Three, two, one.” They both took a bite of their food, and their faces screwed up.

“God, that really is awful,” Sollux said, scooping up another forkful and holding it out towards Eridan. “You have to try it.”

“Ew, not using your fork!” Eridan handed Sollux his own fork, and Sollux fed him some of the goop, trying to ignore the romantic connotations of feeding someone. Eridan grimaced. “I think yours still tastes better than mine, here.” Sollux pushed away the feeling of fluttering in his stomach as Eridan fed him. They made eye contact, and Sollux saw Eridan’s cheeks redden again as they both turned away and pulled back, suddenly hyper-aware of how close they’d gotten.

“Hmm…” Sollux tapped his chin after a small silence, clearing his throat.

“W-well? What’s your judgement?” Eridan put the fork down, dabbing at his mouth with his napkin.

“Yeah, mine may look worse but yours definitely tastes worse,” Sollux put the foil back over the meal, concluding that no, he would _not_ be eating that. He turned his gaze to Eridan’s tray, where he was trying to stomach another mouthful. Spotting a bread roll wrapped up in plastic, Sollux reached out and took it. Eridan instantly snapped his head around to glare at him.

“Excuse me?” Sollux just snickered in response, quickly unwrapping it and taking a bite out of the roll. Eridan gasped and grabbed Sollux’s little pudding cup in retaliation.

“Asshole!” Sollux tried to grab it back, grinning, but Eridan held it out of his reach.

“You started this! Shit-” He cursed as his poached duck almost went spilling all over his lap. He held out a warning finger to Sollux and brought the pudding back to his tray, opening it and stealing Sollux’s spoon to take a bite.

They ate the edible parts of their meals, bantering back and forth about various things including how Sollux apparently looked like his ‘chicken and mash’. Their dishes were taken away, and Eridan settled in to watch Sollux code, leaning over his shoulder. He asked some questions here and there, and Sollux happily rambled about whatever he was doing, not used to someone genuinely asking about it and listening to him.

After a long silence, Sollux felt a pressure on his shoulder and froze as he realised it was Eridan’s head. He’d fallen asleep in what looked like a very uncomfortable position, curled up over the armrest with his head resting on Sollux’s shoulder. 

He looked so much calmer while asleep, the usual frown replaced with a gentle smile. Sollux carefully reached out and pulled Eridan’s glasses off his face, resting them on his laptop behind his keyboard. He smiled and turned back to his work, though it was much harder to concentrate with quiet snores coming from so close to his ear and hair brushing his cheek. Eridan’s hair was even softer than it looked, and it tickled Sollux’s face. He felt pleased that he had felt relaxed enough to doze off, given how their flight had begun.

It was weird how quickly they’d gotten comfortable with each other, the banter felt right, and teasing Eridan felt natural. It honestly felt like they’d known each other a lot longer than the four hours they’d been on the flight. Even how touchy Eridan was didn’t bother Sollux at all, which was a very rare occurrence. 

Sollux very suddenly came to the realisation that he might never see Eridan again after this flight, and that made his gut twist. He’d somehow grown quite fond of him, and he felt a connection between them that was… different to say the least. He quietly hoped that they at least lived near each other, but was ultimately pessimistic on the odds of that. 

Tinged with melancholy, he continued to work on his coding quietly. As the flight crew began to prepare for landing, Sollux closed his laptop and gently nudged Eridan until he groaned and stretched out his arms. He nuzzled his head into Sollux’s shoulder before realising it was attached to a person and blinked his eyes open blearily. He took a moment to look around, shifting his head to look up at Sollux’s smug grin.

“Oh,” he whispered, pulling himself upright and rubbing his neck where it was inevitably sore from the position he slept in. “Hi,” he said sheepishly, eyes darting around looking for what Sollux assumed was his glasses.

“Hi, sleepyhead,” Sollux handed him his glasses, which he took with a quiet ‘thank you’. “How was your nap?”

“Fine… I mean, awful. Your shoulder is bony,” Eridan said, narrowing his eyes at Sollux and yawning.

“Not quite awake yet, huh?”

“Shut up,” Eridan whined, rubbing his eyes. “Why did you wake me up anyway, you asshole.”

“We’re gonna land soon.” This woke him up a bit, blinking at Sollux with wide eyes.

Overthinking again, Sollux blurted out the question of where Eridan lived and was happily surprised when he revealed they lived in the same city. In fact, they were going to the same university. They had a moment where they couldn’t stop grinning at each other, and Sollux kept muttering ‘cool’ repeatedly. Eridan suggested they exchange numbers, and Sollux set his contact name as ‘chicken and mash’ while Eridan put his as ‘hotter than a vampire’.

Sollux offered his hand out to Eridan as the plane got closer to the landing strip, and Eridan squeezed it, smiling gratefully. The plane touched down on the tarmac, and Sollux felt like his finger bones were breaking. He tried to squish Eridan’s hand just as tightly in both retaliation and support. As the plane slowed down and manoeuvred into the airport, Eridan squeezed Sollux’s hand one more time before letting go, looking at him and saying a gentle ‘thank you’ that made Sollux’s chest feel funny.

They took their time getting their things and exiting the plane, both because they were at the back and because neither of them really wanted to leave the other’s company. Sollux was pleased to discover that he was a decent amount taller than Eridan, even despite his horrific posture. This revelation just seemed to annoy Eridan. Sollux offered to carry some of his bags, after making a few smart comments about how much he spent that made Eridan roll his eyes.

“I mean seriously, you can get all this shit at literally any shitty shop you walk into,” Sollux said, pulling out a souvenir slinky, fiddling with it as they walked down the empty plane aisle. 

“Yeah but… It’s not as special,” Eridan complained, turning around to snatch the slinky out of Sollux’s hands. “Don’t touch that, it’s for Fef. She likes to fiddle.” 

“So this ‘Fef’ is like… Just a friend, right?” Sollux blurted as they stepped off the plane. He started mentally cussing himself out.

“Yeah. Maybe once I woulda wanted somethin’ more but we’re just friends,” Eridan replied swiftly, falling into step beside Sollux. “Why, you interested, chicken and mash?” He waggled his eyebrows, and Sollux shoved him.

“Never.”

They slowly made their way to baggage claim, late enough that there were only a few stragglers left. Sollux quickly spotted and grabbed his bag, returning to stand next to Eridan.

“So, what are we looking for?” He asked, watching as the bags slowly passed by. 

“There should be two bags, both with purple ribbons,” Eridan explained, readjusting his scarf.

“You really like purple, huh?”

“It’s a good colour.”

“Before I knew your name, I was mentally calling you ‘Purple’,” Sollux leaned on his bag as they both watched the conveyor move. Eridan let out a short laugh.

“Really? I guess I should be glad.”

“It was either that or ‘the dickhead from customs’.” Eridan scoffed and shoved him, finally catching sight of one of his bags and rushing over to grab it, almost falling over in the process. “Did you really need to pack more than one bag? Aren’t you just visiting for a week or so?”

“Sol, it’s better to have somethin’ and not need it than need it and not have it,” Eridan said, and Sollux got the air that he’d explained that to people many times. Sollux saw a bag with a purple ribbon on it and wandered over to pull it off the belt. Eridan thanked him, then stood there for a moment, trying to figure out how to transport all the bags he had accumulated. Luckily, Sollux went and grabbed a trolley, packing them onto it.

“You know, for someone with twig arms, you’re quite strong,” Eridan pointed out, pushing the trolley towards the exit once Sollux had finished organising the bags.

“Thanks. Can’t say the same about you, shorty.” Sollux was prepared for the shove that came his way this time as Eridan seethed.

They both slowed down as they reached the exit, a sadness hanging in the air as they both realised their time with each other was coming to an end.

“Well, this is it, I guess,” Eridan breathed out, stopping just short of the doors. Sollux put a hand in his pocket and hummed in agreement. There was an awkward silence as neither of them knew what to say. Sollux bit his lip, trying to figure out how to express that somehow that was the best flight- no, the best _time_ he’d had in a while. Being around Eridan was addicting, and made him full of a sense of glee and contentment he hadn’t felt in a long time. 

“We’ll… We’ll see each other again, rig-” Sollux was cut off as Eridan enveloped him in a hug. Sollux froze in shock before relaxing and squeezing him back gently.

“Thank you,” Eridan said quietly into his shoulder. “That flight woulda been a lot more unbearable without you.” Sollux felt something in his stomach flutter, and he let out a breath, hugging him closer in response. Eridan let go and straightened his cape. “You’re still unbearable, though.” Sollux grinned.

“Uh-huh,” he smiled, and they walked through the doors.

Sollux spotted his parents and wandered towards them with a small ‘bye’ to Eridan. Sollux heard a screech of Eridan’s name and running footsteps, followed by a ‘careful!’ from him as they collided. Sollux smiled to himself, turning around to see Eridan held tightly in the clutches of a tall woman. Eridan spotted Sollux looking, and waved, mouthing ‘help’. Sollux waved back, a grin on his face. 

He wasn’t sure how to explain it, but he had a pretty good feeling that he’d be hearing from Eridan a lot more in the future.


End file.
